Spoon: "Written In Reverse" Lyrics

This is the first single from Spoon's upcoming album, Transference, (due January 19th). And when I heard it, and "Mystery Zone" (another new track), I wasn't blown away, as I always expect to be when I first hear new Spoon songs. But, after a few listens everything slips into place and I realize that Britt Daniel is a magician, or the devil, or... god forbid... a songwriter, because how else can I explain why the new songs I've heard somehow recall all my old favourite Spoon songs and yet still carve out a nice comfy place in the sweet spot of my brain. Damn you, Spoon (and thank you)!!

"Written in Reverse" Lyrics
I'm writing this to you in reverse
Someone better call a hearse
I can see it all from here
From just a few glimpses
Now that light bulb's gone off
And it's pulling my wincin'
And now the light bulb's gone off

I've seen it in your eyes
I've seen you blankly stare
And I wanna show you how I love you
But there's nothing there

I'm not standing here
Oh I'm not standing here
And I'm writing in reverse
You know it could be worse
I'm not standing here
I'm not standing here

I'm not standing here
I'm not standing here
and I'm writing in reverse
I know it could be worse
And I hear that famous song
And I hear that can't be wrong

No nothing was planned
You just can't help yourself
Some people are so easily shuffled and dealt
If there's only one of us you truly felt
We're gettin' you raw
And it feels real good
Although only briefly
Like high school poppers would
Will you lose a bit of yourself?
Will you lose a bit of yourself?

I'm not standing here
Oh I'm not standing here
And I'm writing in reverse
You know it could be worse
I hear that famous song
And I hear that can't be wrong

Look out
All I know, is all I know,
Yes, all I know, is all I know
Is all I know

I'm writing this to you in reverse
Someone better call a hearse
I can see it all from here
From just a few glimpses
Now that light bulb's gone off
And it's pulling my wincin'
And now the light bulb's gone off
I've seen it in your eyes
And there's nothing there
There's nothing there
I wanna show you how I love you
I can see you blankly stare

Phoenix: "1901" Video: A Take Away Show

Phoenix - 1901 - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

Timber Timbre

Mood. Creepy, gloomy, yearning, mood... it weeps, like basement cinder blocks sweat in summer heat, from the songs of Timber Timbre alias Taylor Kirk.

I don't know who Kirk is trying to sound like, but by making that journey (or effort) he has arrived at a place most musicians never reach. This is music, or mood, that grabs you by the hand, the shoulders or the throat and that all depends on how much this music infects you. I literally sat up straight, my ears pricked up, and all other sound and vision melted away when I first heard Timber Timbre on my mp3 player. Stumbling up against songs like this is one of the best things about loving music... the discovery of a new favourite. But all this emotion would just wash over you if it wasn't for the voice of Kirk. It's the voice that catches, that sticks like black molasses. It demands attention, sounding familiar, mysterious, and enviable all at once. One of my favourites songs from the current self-titled release is "I Get Low". Now it would be very easy for me to say I get high when I listen to the song "I Get Low", but that wouldn't be the truth. I get... umm... I get (why does busy keep popping into my head) I guess I get let loose into a world that Kirk has pulled and twisted from his mind. Maybe I should have said set free, I enjoy a sense of freedom... there's a special freedom that comes from listening to music that moves you.

Only three albums in (2006's Cedar Shakes, 2007's Medicinals and 2009's Timber Timbre) and the promise Toronto's Kirk shows those who bother to listen, easily outshines the bluesy gloom he crafts so well. I've said it before - and I'm sure I wasn't the first - but now I'll say it again: 'the best songs are sad songs'.

[BUY]

Doveman: The Conformist

Doveman. The name sounds peaceful, it conjures an image of a large, a very large, soft feathered bird softly cooing from the upper ledge of a city building. Perhaps not the best image, or maybe the image you have is closer to a crime fighter a la Batman... Doveman, the Mahatma Gandhi of superheroes. Well, will you look at that, from cooing like a dove to kicking ass Gandhi-style... methinks you should lend an ear to Doveman a.k.a. Thomas Bartlett.

The latest Doveman record is called The Conformist, but it definitely does not conform to the music he has recorded and released to date. This new recording is bolstered vocally by guests such as The National's Matt Berninger, and by Bartlett penning much more accessible melodies, as if he's reaching out instead of turning inward as his earlier music would often seem to do. His recording and touring with The National seems to have rubbed off in the best possible way and I hear this most prominently in the song "The Angel's Share". Even without Berninger adding his voice to the song, the chorus would evoke many of the better, quieter moments of The National.

The Conformist is highly recommended. [BUY]

The National: "Blood Buzz Ohio" Lyrics + MP3

Here are the new lyrics for The National's first single off their upcoming album, High Violet. The lyrics at post bottom are for an early version of the same song.

Blood Buzz Ohio - from High Violet (2010)
Stand up straight at the foot of your love
I'll lift my shirt up
Stand up straight at the foot of your love
I'll lift my shirt up

I was carried to Ohio in a swarm of bees
I never married but Ohio don't remember me

Lay my head on the hood of your car
I take it too far
Lay my head on the hood of your car
I take it too far

I still owe money to the money to the money I owe
I never thought about love
When I thought about home
I still owe money to the money to the money I owe
The floors are falling out from everybody I know

I'm on a bloodbuzz
Yes I am
I'm on a blood buzz
I'm on a bloodbuzz
God I am
I'm on a blood buzz

I was carried to Ohio in a swarm of bees
I never married but Ohio don't remember me

I still owe money to the money to the money I owe
I never thought about love
When I thought about home
I still owe money to the money to the money I owe
The floors are falling out from everybody I know

I'm on a bloodbuzz
Yes I am
I'm on a blood... buzz
I'm on a bloodbuzz
God I am
I'm on a blood... buzz

* * * * * *

This is another new song that The National trotted out during their just wrapped East coast mini-tour. The new songs sound great, but it's how they sound if (and that's a big IF) they make it on the new record. I, for one, am hoping that if they do make it to the next album, that they grow and evolve into something a little different than these live mp3s. Live versions that I will grow to know too well before the new record is out.

blood buzz ohio [mp3] (live - Boston May 23/09)
THIS MP3 link is now LIVE.

"BLOOD BUZZ OHIO"
Stand up straight at the foot of your love
I'll lift my shirt up
Stand up straight at the foot of your love
I'll lift my shirt up

I'll rest my eyes till the fever's outta me
I'll rest my eyes till the river's in the sea
I'll rest my eyes till the fever's outta me
I'll rest my eyes till the river's in the sea

I was carried to Ohio in a storm of bees
I never married but Ohio don't remember me
I still owe money to the money to the money I owe
I never thought about love
When I thought about home
I still owe money to the money to the money I owe
The floors are falling out from everybody I know

I'm on a bloodbuzz
Yes I am
I'm on a blood buzz
I'm on a bloodbuzz
God I am
I'm on a blood buzz

Lay my head on the hood of your car
I take it too far
Lay my head on the hood of your car
I take it too far

The National: "The Runaway" Lyrics

This is a quick transcription of the new song by The National, tentatively titled "The Runaway". There's sure to be a mistake or two, if you feel the need to reprimand me for my bad hearing, feel free. Here's an idea, since the song title isn't set in stone, perhaps all of you faithful and rabid National fans out there can leave a comment as to what you feel the song should be called... if we get a good variety of answers I'll send them to the band. Get a free, remember it's free (and low quality) preview of the song here.

"The Runaway"
There's no savin' anything
Now we're swallowin' the shine of the sun
There's no savin' anything
From the shine of the sun

But I won't be no runaway
Cause I won't run
No I won't be no runaway

What makes you think I’m enjoyin' being led to the flood
We got another thing comin' undone
That’s taking us over

We don't bleed when we don't fight
Go ahead go ahead
Throw your arms in the air tonight
We don't bleed when we don't fight
Go ahead go ahead
Throw your shirts in the fire tonight

What makes you think I’m enjoying being led to the flood
We got another thing comin' undone


But I won't be no runaway
Cause I won't run
No I won't be no runaway
Cause I won't run
No I won't be no runaway

what makes you think I’m enjoyin' being led to the flood
We got another thing comin' undone
That’s taking forever

We don't bleed when we don't fight
go ahead go ahead
Throw your arms in the air tonight
we don't bleed when we don't fight
Go ahead go ahead
There’s our shirts in the fire tonight

what makes you think I'm enjoying being led to the flood
we got another thing comin' undone
we got another thing comin' undone
That’s taking us over

I'll go bravin' anything
With you swallowin' the shine of the sun
I'll go bravin' everything
With you swallowin' the shine
But I won't be no runaway
Cause I won't run
No I won't be no runaway
Cause I won't run
No I won't be no runaway

What makes you think I’m enjoying being led to the flood
We got another thing comin' undone
They’ve taken us over
We don't bleed when we don't fight
go ahead go ahead
Throw your arms in the air tonight
We don't bleed when we don't fight
Go ahead go ahead
Lose our shirts in the fire

What makes you think I’m enjoying being led to the flood
We got another thing comin undone
We got another thing comin' undone
That’s taking us over
That’s taking forever

Patrick Watson: 'Wooden Arms' Hipstereo Review

I don't think it's happened before... not to me, at least. Wooden Arms, Patrick Watson's 3rd full length is so intoxicating, so magical, that it has pushed every thing I've heard since, down a notch, or two. And it's not just Watson's voice, one that lives somewhere between the rooted grainy echo of M Ward and the soaring mercurial grace of Jeff Buckley, it's the music which carries, and is carried by, that voice.

Some music is simpler for me to understand than others, although that doesn't mean I can't enjoy it. I understand Elvis Perkins, and his great new record, and I can intuit how he came to create the music on that record, but Patrick Watson... I can't figure this out. How does he do it? And I've even wondered... why? There's something powerful here, and it may simply be the mystery, the how and the why. Mystery is very seductive, isn't it? I've been seduced by this album, from the quiet romanticism/oddness of the Tom Waits-like title track "Wooden Arms", to the carnival-esque and woozy somnambulism of "Traveling Salesman". From "Beijing" and it's fantastic musical evocation of a city humming, buzzing, and racing with the life of millions of citizens to the deceptively simple "Where The Wild Things Are".

Opening the record is the stunningly lovely "Fireweed", a song which shows to great effect just how important the talents of the other band members are. Throughout Wooden Arms, guitarist Simon Angell shows imagination and restraint, while bassist Mishka Stein displays a fluidity which never gets in the way of percussionist Robbie Kuster's strength, presence and innovation. While this quartet does push boundaries to keep engaged in the creative process, they can, and do, slip in the occasional "pop" song, such as "Man Like You" and "Big Bird In A Small Cage", the latter song in my perfect world would be on every radio in every car and home.

If 2006's release, Close To Paradise, won the band the 2007 Polaris Music Prize (Canada's Mercury Prize), then I can only imagine what awards will be earned by this new record. Highly recommended.

Pop Quiz: The National's Matt Berninger

Well, here it is... the first and possibly the last POP QUIZ to appear on Sixeyes with favourite interview subject, Matt Berninger of The National.

* * * * * * *

Favourite city to visit?
Amsterdam. I like the canals and the bikes, not the drugs and whores.

Favourite venue to play?
Still Bowery Ballroom. It feels homey.

CD or vinyl?
I only listen to stuff on my iPod now. The sound is inferior but i'm lazy and turning over a record seems like a pain now.

Boxers or briefs?
Conservative briefs.

Beer, wine, or Calimocho?
Wine.

Favourite singer?
Changes too fast.

Coke or Pepsi?
Trying hard to think of something witty... nope, Coke.

The English Patient or High Fidelity?
I hated The English Patient. I wish everyone involved with that movie had died in a cave. High Fidelity is really good.

Madonna or Britney?
Pepsi

Favourite lyricist, or writer?
Too hard. I have about 20.

Sean Penn or Mickey Rourke?
Also tough. Penn.

Sugar or Aspartame?
Sugar?

Morning or night person? Uhh… afternoon?
I don't think I lean toward any of those times. It depends on what happened the day before.

Miami Vice or Starsky and Hutch?
Simon and Simon.

Bowie or Springsteen?
I used to date a girl who would often fantasize aloud about a Bowie-Jagger sandwich which turned me off Bowie for a few years. Springsteen and I were both left out so there's a kinship there.